Information Collection Request; Online Loan Application
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on a revisio...
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on a revision of a currently approved collection associated with an automated FSA Online Loan Application for Direct Loan Making Program. For Direct Loan Making Programs, the information collected is used in eligibility and feasibility determinations for loan making actions. Future releases of the FSA Online Loan Application will provide additional functionality and components for Direct Loan Making applications.
DATES:
We will consider comments that we receive by July 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
We invite you to submit comments in response to this notice. FSA prefers that the comments are submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, identified by Docket ID No. FSA-2026-0298, go to
http://www.regulations.gov
and search for docket ID FSA-2026-0298. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
All comments received will be posted without change and made publicly available on
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For specific questions related to the collection activities or to obtain a copy of the information collection request: For the Direct Loan Making Program please contact Matthew Christian; telephone; (423) 788-2007; email:
matthew.christian@usda.gov.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice) or (844) 433-2774 (toll-free nationwide).
Type of Request:
Revision of a currently approved information collection.
Abstract:
FSA's Farm Loan Programs provide loans to family farmers to purchase real estate and equipment, and to finance agricultural production. In response to Executive Order 14058—Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, FSA simplified the Direct Farm Loan application by reducing the number of forms required for completion of form FSA-2001, “Request for Direct Loan Assistance” from 29 pages to 13 pages. The simplified paper application was released in March 2023. In December 2023, FSA launched the FSA Online Loan Application (OLA) through which Farm Loan Program applicants desiring an automated application experience could submit requests for Direct Loan assistance. For the initial launch, the FSA OLA was only available to individual operators. FSA later expanded OLA in August 2024 to accept requests from informal entities, including married couples. In April 2026, further OLA expansion occurred to accept requests from legal entity applicants. As it relates to available loan types, OLA is only available for Farm Ownership Loans and Operating Loans requests. It is not available for Youth Loans, Emergency Loans, or the Indian Tribal Land Acquisition Loan Program. As it relates solely to the automated form FSA-2001 completed via the OLA experience, the burden hours were projected to decrease from the paper FSA-2001 “Request for Direct Loan Assistance” form due to the intuitive design of the online application software.
FSA is currently exploring broader IT Modernization efforts to enhance program delivery. As part of the broader IT modernization effort, the existing OLA platform may be incorporated into a new fully integrated lending platform for USDA. OMB review and approval will be required prior to implementation of any new online loan intake software.
For the following estimated total annual burden on respondents, the formula used to calculate the total burden hour is the estimated average time per response hours multiplied by the estimated total annual responses.
Type of Respondents:
Individuals or households (informal entities), businesses (legal entities,) or other for-profit farms.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents:
668.
( printed page 29110)
Estimated Number of Reponses Per Respondent:
1.16.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
775.
Estimated Average Time per Response:
1.49 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents:
1,152 hours.
We are requesting comments on all aspects of this information collection to help us to:
(1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of FSA, including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of FSA's estimate of burden including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected;
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
All comments received in response to this notice, including names and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. Comments will be summarized and included in the submission for Office of Management and Budget approval.